ON THE PENINSULA.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 230, 21 June 1915, Page 3

ON THE PENINSULA.

THE I,Aip)ING ON , G A£HIP OLI, A jNEW; -•ZEALANpER?%S^i : Y v yj The terrible experiences *^th«^#A,.uß? r ..trglasaians on landing' nt tfip* DafJan"' elles are in a Tetter' received by the Rev. of Wellington, from his son. Private' A. J. Hunt, of tbV“Gairterbiir^ s ßaTta!fqnptv 2 ho !f was badly wounded in tfie engagement'' and is now' ixT frospitaTW' J Hltlta'. The" letter, dated 6th May, runs:— ‘ :I will say I am getting on all liglit The; wound is a beauty, just below-my neck. It is aboutreinJTohg land 41hi-In width,> and I don’t know how T%bt hit ,Jlyc. times altogether, ~..jßu't;.., is, only one of any impbfahcV.’ TKe others wore shrapnel bits.—-My-Jia-versßck-stopped,two from going into,myythigh, and only left bruises., T£e entrenching .tool stopped another fforii’going ifitbhnV, leg;,j The fiber '■got iAc''on' i thfi ‘heakl,; rind' it, knocked me senseless cTbr~abbut‘half-an-hour. and only made a TffmpTas big , as. ; a tennis ball at !^lic'badlt, ' ; of' ; lny t, 'ea‘fr I,.ean,’t, hear out of. my euf’"'nbw, but that is a trifle."! will' juft telTyop what, happened the d^,We’ landed. Wc affived at Gallipoli *ptffnsula ..night, about an Australians began to landl word, , • t- , **• * I *£ li they, did well. We were Tak'ohbff the transports bf' torpedo boats, and ‘ had to wade up to our shoulders with all .o.ur pack oh, and;! cfin tell, you’ if wasn’t easy. 'The Australians' fixed before thjey..le,ft beats, . then, jumped out with a yelT ancCJ charged the Turks up a terrible highTififf.'They ■scarcely fir edWg*’shot, bHt - ? eht“ them in pieces wifh the bayonet...: lixe—Turks had some e otjs -the .bbach' and as each upUhe.W opciicd; . fire,->. In l one boat of Australians only two got out coy., ered iu> blood. However,’the boot was -more fortunate, got On-dry-land they charged down on the machine-guns ?mad r We

•.could ■;see.'%'lH'this i from > ’^'irr'.TDbat', v ?inj, J ' of'-course, we were-, .all dying fo get flietn a hand. At last our- turn came. We were about the ■fvrsti-ofj; to land. ■We got on the torpedo!J^b#^frbni' the port side and -the sef us, -but as we went round the, bow of the transport three batteries opened on us.-: Of course, wlieii flvey "started’ the warshipS'alP starte-d : fe' sflcnr-e them. ,n.nd you should have heard-" tliW row. •You -.oouidn’t liear yoin - sclt ■ spbalc'YV,m¥’ -when nat hear-one another for about five minutes. Wo were lucky in not getting bit . .going over.?, Some ofirthc r £hollsfTanded five or ten "yards from "ns and * didn’> explods untilthey reached'■ the. Wat-dry Had they exploded in the air wo should, have .been blown' .to ’pieces. - v . " ’ ... . ■*’ Into ft. -/‘ Well, after we' got~~asltWf* ipTW once took our'packs'-off and Scent straight into-itr*'lt-fulj that cliff. .There- was ordyma narrow path and everyone' had to keep to it, because all the bushes -wore>-miried. At last we got over it after : continually ducking -,<;-;o«r heads vta dodge, the hail of shrapnel-and bullets that were flying . round.:;;' First of. all we went into, one- of the -Turks’-

“trenches, and the first sighf-that met ofir'.Caigh’t wits a Turkuwith Jua,fiend blown off.'; He looked lovely* and if. us aip-m-lot.-.iA. bit .-further - t on we saw another., wlthrboth kisdegs lying beside' him.L;A¥t!; were'in the,, trenches for about au«hour and; a half when- the order eamjc;. j. 'Reinforeementa.;; wanted von the..jight ■flapk.h We bad to double; out of the-ftenchesi.and go for our/Hyes across an apen;,sp.aceV;that.. j . : .,was being. ? swcpt:rwith‘v shrapnel* TWe got across all- right. ' -.Three-; of :Our ; chaps - were - .killed, but fwoiikept on , and at.-last got behind the tfiriug was wanting, morc'-men. /iWP .wero ; crawli.pg along on our. . ; when, ; our chaps fsaw -.three' snipers -, hiding behind,.,some bushes. We;;told>;the' lieutenant and heordered four of us to fixe bayonets, ‘charge them. We eouldn’t fire because of our chaps in frontP*-- So -we 1 ' -crept back, fixed vour bayonets and. waited till the shells.stopped buzzingia bitj and ■;{h’eii wo up; and at. iem. '.LWe took them :by;, surprise, and when we were, onktop..of them ihey dropped their- -rifles and yelled for mercy. Thcytgot a dot of ittoo. Our bayonets .went in.jiip to.itho) hit a dozen times. The%.we--.took the bolts out. of their f .rifleis, w threw ..thcpi away, and lef them. They are the big-best-cowards out. When once they set .'they are'caught they won't make a fight for lit. They want mercy; they -know? that wertp cnougji,A * isS- - , .£ ,/ T*".../ ir 5 W- S , ; Bullets Every where. ~ V . o .'V7 ■ gj?: •• v ; •'Well,; we went 'to "our bwiTplatoo'n' after and got up to the firing- line. I „Uad a v surprise when I. li^.d'|i J’odfi up. X thought the Turks were 300 or 400 yards away, but they Wtire’Scafcelw I 0 0: yards offi 'We were going ; ’fb -advance,’so we got up to make a run -'fo'r\v.a-xd aboiff , ‘ , fi< r c '-'yards,' and then .'.dropped.; Well, I had just .got down when I was hit. A sniper caught me ...sideways’ on. iv Tire bullet. puSrit in my. left shoulder,4|h‘em came ujiahd raad&'abole- in the middle of my back, and dived acrosfi out of myshduldpr £/It ; taken out yesterday, and now f ’V'e got it iii my pocket. The Worst' it was getting the bepch when one was 5 hit.- 6f- course, J> wa s'" knocked sbritieless, ■■ a iid when I Tain's to ,1 was alone. AAII the others bad advanced. I crawled back as best •X could, f 0t 7 ''l"A'ouldrt^t'Ktaird rip as the* bullets Were flying about everywhere. When, I reached a little hollow I tried to stand ; but my.Jp%d sec|n,ed.,t%) heavy for met'.XTOuldh'lt hold-Ut;. upv.it seemed as if my neck was broken. s .y I -had a bit of a rest, and^hon c .led—ou a bit further. T earac'to a steep bank and just as I was going to slide down Jjt I -hoard a shell .coming. I.bobv bod -XlOwn, and when I thought it had gone I got up, and tlfenll'wak knocked on the- head.and X.djdnT- remmembor, more.. All I know' is that I must have roiled down the bank and in doing-so' I put my shoulder out. -One of the am-ii bulairee mpnsaid he found me-and ear-, tied me down to the- beach.- -I -clou ‘t know" whore I should have been if it hadn’t boon' for him.'-■ My'-shoulder..fV£

all right.; now. It was lucky I dkin 'V break' my neck,-for- it was -a* steep bank; and I must have fallen heavily.- However,, it is done with now, and I only hope I shall soon be able‘to get back to- the.front I must get some of my own back again.'* -• •